Automatic air-brake for cars.



No. 841,636. l PATENTED JAN. 15,1907. W. J. DAN'KEL.

AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKE FOR GARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. Z4, 1906.

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UNITED' STATES PATENT orrion..

AUTOMATIC AIR-BRAKE FOR CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Tan. 1.5, 15907.Y

Application filed March 24, 1906. Serial No. 307,812.

Tof all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J onN DAN- KEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Air- Brakes for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

Hy invention is in the nature of a novel construction of automatic air-brake for railway-cars which operates Without the usual triple valve. It is an improvement upon that form of' airebrake in which the pistonrod which actuates the brake-lever carries a piston, which piston is arranged to play between two air-chambers, the air-chamber on one side containing a body of compressed air, which in expanding applies the brake, and the air-chamber on the other side of the piston being connected through a special valve with the train-pipe, so that when the pressure within the latter is reduced by the engineer the pressure within the communi-` cating air-chamber will be reduced and will allow the preponderating pressure in the airchamber on the other side to expand and by advancing the piston apply the brakes.

My invention consists in a novel, simple, and practical construction operating upon the above-described principle, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation oi my complete apparatus. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalV section through the same, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the inlet and discharge valve between the train-pipe and the communicating air-chamber in which the piston moves.

B is a cylinder cast in one piece with one closed end and with two projections G G, forming bolt connections for the attachment to the car.

B is a detachable head secured by bolts to the flanged and open end of cylinder B. The cylinder is `formed interiorly with a rib, shoulder, or stop-lugs l), which mark the division of the cylinder into two chambers E and D. The chamber E is not turned or iinished interiorly and is an air-chamber only.- The chamber D is turned interiorly toform a smooth and accurate barrel, in

which reciprocates-a piston I.A This piston is made in sections containingbetween'them a packing that forms an air-tight iit against the inner walls of the barrel, and a piston-rodl C connects centrally with the piston and also has an air-tight joint.` The piston-rod C extends through a stuffing-box I-I in the cylinder-head with an air-tight joint. and' has a suitable coupling-head on its. external' end for connection with the brake-lever which ap lies the brakes.

t a point opposite the stop-lugs h ofI the cylinder there is cast on the cylinder an exterior projection in which is formed a bypass @which opens at one end into: the chamer E and at the other end into the chamber D at a point behind the piston I when the latter is resting against the stop-lugs In this by-pass orJ is arran ed a check-valve F, which opens from cham er D toward and into chamber E, but prevents the flow of air from the chamber E back into D.

A is a combined inlet and discharge valve,

whose casing is preferably tapped into they removable cylinder-head B. This valve connects at its outer end with the train-pipe leading to the engineers cab and'by a reduction of pressure in which pipe the valve A is influenced to vary the pressure within charnber D, and thus actuate the piston Jfrom the expansion of air in chamber E. The construction and operation oi this valve are best seen in Fig. 3.

The outer casing is bottle-shaped, and its body portion has a brass lining m, which is retained in place by a detachable end A ,I having a screw-threaded nipple c,y adapted to connect with a branch of' the train-pipe. The neck portion h of' the casing is screw threaded to connect with the head B of the cylinder, and within this neck is formed an inwardly-projecting core i, whose end enters the body oi the casing in concentric relation thereto and is formed with a passage-way 7c leading at one endv to the outer airl and with a lateral opening l near its inner end. This inner end is bored centrally to receive a valve-- stem y', which is attached to and carried by a piston J, fitting the brass liningm. B'etween the brass lining m and the casing A there is formed a passage-way g, which opens at` one end into the neck oi the casing and at IOO the other end through a hole f in the brass lining into the end of the casing next to the train-pipe. A check-valve e is housed within a detachableplug CZ and allows air to pass from the opening f to passage-way g, but will not allow it to pass in the oppositedirection. The end of the valve-stem y is made tapered, and the adjacent end of the passage-way 7c is turned to form a valve-seat cooperating therewith. The function of this valve is as follows: The neck h, being in communication with the chamber D and the thimble c being in communication with the train-pipe and the train-pipe pressure being, say, seventy pounds, the pressure of the .train-pipe entering nipple c of the valve passes through opening j, valve e, passage-way g, and into c amber D of the cylinder, and thence through valve F and by-pass a into airchamber E. There will therefore be seventy pounds pressure on both sides of piston I and through the whole system. If now an application of brakes is to be made, the engineer s valve is manipulated in the usual way to reduce pressure in the train-pipe, say, five pounds. This causes piston J to move outwardly, since it has sixty-five pounds on the outside and seventy pounds on the inside, and this movement causes stem y' to move back and open communication between ort Z and passage-way 76 to the outer air. his allows the air in chamber D to gradually ass out through port Z and passage-way k.

he air-pressure in chamber D being thus reduced and that in chamber E being still at seventy pounds, (since vcheck-valve F prevents any movement of air from E to D,) the piston I moves outwardly with sulicient energly to apply the brakes.

o release the brakes, the engineer increases the air-pressure in the train-pipe, and this pressure moves valve-piston J inwardly, closing the discharge-outlet Z c from chamber D and opening port f and allowing the freshly-introduced air from the train-pipe to force valve e open and pass through passage g, and thenceinto chamber D, wherein its gradual accumulation forces thepistonI back again to the lugs b in a position ready to apply the brakes again.

It will be seen that the air in chamber E at no time escapes and the engineer has not the power to destroy its air-cushion. He may,

owever, increase its effective pressure, when required, by simply increasing the pressure in the train-pipe, and -this allows the increased pressure to flow through check-valve F and by-pass a, for increasing the power lof the brake or for compensating for any leakage from the chamber E.

It will be seen that the valve end of stemyl of the discharge-valve is made tapering. This enables me to make a slow-service application of brakes or a quick-emergency application of brakes. Thus for a slow apphcation of brakes the reduction of air-pressure in the train-pipe is slight, which moves the piston J of the discharge-valve but a little distance and causes the tapering end of the valve-stem y' to leave its seat only a little distance, and consequently opens only a small annular space around the tapering end. If, however, there is a sudden and considerable reduction of air-pressure in the train-pipe, the piston J of the discharge-valve will qfliickly move its full stroke and by pulling t e tapering stem y' farther away from its seat opens a larger annular space around the tapering end, and by thus giving aull discharge of air from chamber D makes a quick and full movement of iston I and an emergency application of bra res.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An automatic air-brake apparatus ,comprising a single cylinder with an interior stop projection marking the division-line of two.

air-chambers and having a by-pass with check-valve connecting the two chambers on opposite sides of the stop projections, one of said air-chambers being constructed as a smooth piston-barrel and having a detachable head with stuffing-box, a piston tting said barrel and having its rod extending through the stufling-box and adapted to connect.with a brake-lever, and an inlet and discharge valve comprising a casing with a piston, one end of the casing being in open communication with the piston-barrel and the other with the train-pipe, and a discharge and cut-off device controlled by the movement of this piston and arranged to open one end of the casing to the atmosphere -in one movement of the valve-piston and close it in the other movement, said casing having also a passage-way with check-valve opening around the piston from the outer end of the casing to the inner yend of the same.

2. An air inlet and dischar e valve for airbrakes, comprising a casing aving one end provided with a connection for the brakecylinder and the other end provided with a connection for the train-pipe and a assageway with check-valve opening into t e opposite ends of the casing, apiston within the casing having a central stem forming a valve, a concentric projection from the casing having a valve-seat receiving the said stem and an outlet passage-way to the atmosphere formed in said concentric projection.

3. An air inlet and discharge valve for airbrakes, comprising a casing having one end provided with a connection for the brake-cylinder and the other end provided with a connection for the train-pipe and a passage-Way With check-valve opening into opposite ends ofthe casing, a piston Within the casing having a central stem bearing a tapering valve end, a concentric projection from the casing having a valve-seat receiving the ta ering valve and an outlet passage-Way to t e at- Inosphere arranged to have its dischargeopening increased by the progressive out- Ward movement of the piston.

WILLIAM 'JOHN DANKEL.

Witnesses:

E. M. STANLICK, AGNES B. ROY 

